Henry Nightingale was born in Kingston on Thames on 21 April 1880. His father, James, was a surveyor and his mother before marriage was Agnes Thrupp. He went to school at Kingston Grammar School from where he obtained a scholarship to King's College, London. Nightingale next gained a scholarship

James Reid was born in Bournemouth on 24 October 1906, the son of George Alexander Reid, a general practitioner, and his wife Muriel, née Hopwood. He was educated at Hailey Preparatory School in Bournemouth, and Marlborough College, Wiltshire. He then went to Oxford University and on to St George's